Of Burnt Toast and Crayons
by JustOnePenny
Summary: Slight AU.  Slash.  Harry can't cook.  But Draco can!  The blond somehow gets roped into making dinner for the man he hasn't seen in seven years... by Harry's daughters, nonetheless.  HPxDM  Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Of Burnt Toast and Crayons**

I don't own them. Sorry. I know we all wish I did. XP

To be perfectly honest, I'm not too sure where I'm going with this story, but these two girls just kept insisting that I write it. Hopefully, it will not be total suckage.

It is slight AU. I pretty much ignore Deathly Hollows. Voldemort was defeated and they all moved on with their lives.

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"Malfoy?"

Draco looked up from the book he had pulled off the shelf to find a man staring at him with mild surprise painted across his features. It took him a moment to realize he knew this person.

"Potter. Wow, um... Hi," he started awkwardly. "It's been a while." he said, sliding the book back into its place on the shelf before turning to face Harry.

"About seven years now. Can you believe it? How are you?"

"Fine. You?" he asked, studying the man before him. Harry was slightly taller than he remembered, a little broader in the shoulders. His glasses were gone, wether due to contacts or corrective surgery, Draco didn't know. His hair was just long enough to hide his scar, but still an untamable mess. It was nice to know that some things never change.

"Life's been pretty good. I'm surprised to see you out shopping in the muggle world," he said, gesturing vaguely to the bookstore they were standing in.

Draco glanced around at the shop, pausing a moment before answering. "Actually, I'm living just outside the city now."

Harry's eyebrows shot up in shock. "Really?"

"Mm. Business," was his only reply.

"I see. What-"

"!" Harry was cut off mid sentence as a little girl who looked about four years old came flying out from behind the shelves and attached herself to his legs. She had her father's large green eyes and wild black hair which was tied up in two short pigtails on top of her head, and her mother's petit, freckle spattered features. "I found the one I want!" she yelled, holding up her prize.

Harry picked her up, holding her with one arm, and glanced at the book she had chosen. "You already have that one at home!" he said, grabbing it with his free hand and gently bopping her on the head with it. She giggled and tried to steal her book back without success.

"See, I told you he wouldn't let you get that one," said another girl as she came into view. This one had to be at least thirteen. Her mousy brown hair was cropped short above her bright gold eyes and sharp features. She had that lanky build of most young teens, all arms and legs.

"Hey, come here," Harry said, waving her down the aisle. "There's someone I want you to meet. This is Draco Malfoy, we used to go to school together," he said, nodding towards the blonde. "And these are my girls, Molly and Haley."

Draco was shocked. "Uh," he muttered, staring at the kids. Molly was obviously Harry's biological daughter, but Harry would have had to have been eleven or twelve when Haley was born. "Nice to meet you," he said after a pause.

"Was-sup?" Haley responded with a little wave. Molly just stared at him, gripping her dad's collar.

"Aren't you going to say 'hi'?" Harry asked the little one. She just shook her head and buried her face in his neck. "Sorry, she's shy," he explained, smiling gently.

"Quite alright," Draco answered softly, still staring somewhat dumbfounded at the trio in front of him. He was dying to ask for an explanation, but considering the circumstances, didn't want to be rude.

"Hey dad, what are we doing for dinner tonight?" asked Haley.

"I was thinking of ordering pizza."

"Ugh. Again? I'm sick of pizza."

"Well, I could always cook..." Molly's head shot up and she shook it vigorously. "NOOOOOOOO!" she yelled.

Draco couldn't help but laugh at that. "What's this, Potter? You can't cook?"

Haley made a face. "You have no idea. He screws up toast."

"Hey! I'm not _that _bad," he argued.

Haley rolled her eyes at him. "Yes. Yes you are." She looked sideways at Draco. "Do you know how to cook?" she asked, barely concealed mischief shining brightly on her features.

Harry looked at her suspiciously. Draco just raised an eyebrow and answered mildly, "I do, yes."

Haley grinned. "Want to come cook dinner for us?"

"Hey!" Harry yelled, this time bopping the teenager in the head with the book. "That's rude."

Draco smirked. "I seriously doubt Harry would trust me with making his food. We had a somewhat volatile rivalry between us back in school."

"That's alright," Haley pushed on, glaring at her father. "Even if you poisoned it, I doubt it would be as deadly as dad's stuff."

"Will you stop that?" Harry asked exasperatedly, a slight blush of embarrassment staining his high cheekbones. "What has gotten into you? Besides, I'm sure Draco has better stuff to do than come cook for you brats."

"Not really," Draco answered without thinking. He wasn't really sure what made him say it. Maybe he was just curious to see if Potter would actually invite him over. Sure, they're fights had died off towards the end of their schooldays together, but they never exactly got along either, even during their most civil interactions. Of course, back then they were all young and hot headed.

Harry stared at him in shock. "Well... if you really think you want to, I most certainly wouldn't mind having someone else cook for us."

"It's settled then!" Haley stated. Molly gave a little cheer. "We'll pick up some groceries on the way home. What are you gonna make for us?"

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And that's how Draco Malfoy found himself currently standing in the kitchen of Harry Potter's apartment preparing dinner. Haley was leaning against the counter watching him work.

"So you're a wizard too, huh?" She asked.

"I am," he responded as he diced up the vegetables. He didn't have much experience dealing with kids and didn't really know what to say to her. Luckily Haley was good at keeping the silence from stretching too long.

"It's really cool that you're cooking for us. We don't get homemade meals too often. Dad would probably burn the place down if he ever tried to use the oven again."

"What about your mum?"

"You mean Ginny?" Haley asked.

It dawned on Draco that he may have asked a rather private question. He was about to try and cover but she kept talking like it was nothing important.

"Ginny's not my mom, adopted or otherwise. In fact, I've only met her a couple of times. Dad says she left right after Molly was born." Haley reached for an apple, but before she could take a bite Draco plucked it out of her hands.

"Don't ruin your appetite."

"Hey!" she pulled a sour face. After staring at him in silent contemplation for a bit, she suddenly grinned. He found it somewhat nervewracking. "Sooooo, are you gonna date my dad?"

Draco was so shocked he dropped the apple and she snatched it before it hit the ground. "What?"

Her next words were shot out rapid fire. "Well his last boyfriend left almost five months ago and he hasn't dated anyone since then and sometimes he seems kind of lonely but really I think it's just the lack of-"

"Haley!" They both turned to see Harry standing in the doorway, glaring at the teenager. "Go... entertain your sister or something," he ordered, running a hand through his hair, his face bright red as he waved in the general direction of the living room.

"Okey dokey!" she chirped and skipped out of the kitchen with her trophy apple.

Harry plopped himself down in one of the chairs at the table. "Sorry about Haley, she can be rather... straightforward."

Draco lifted an eyebrow at Harry's choice of words. "Where exactly did she come from?" he finally asked, turning back to his work.

"I found her in the streets a little over a year ago. She tried to steal my wallet."

Draco snickered. "So you decided to take her in instead of turning her in. That is so _you_." He placed the baking tray in the oven and set the timer, then sat down across from Harry. "I have to admit, I'm rather curious about what's happened since you married the Weasly girl."

Harry leaned back in his chair, staring absently at the table. "You know, I thought that all I wanted was a normal life. I had toyed with the idea of becoming an auror, but after the war I just couldn't stomach the idea of such a violent career. So I figured I'd settle down with Ginny, live a quiet life writing novels, start a family. Turns out that wasn't really what either of us wanted or needed. She left right after Molly was born, saying she wasn't ready for the whole family thing. I didn't do much to stop her. We had our fair share of problems. Both of us were just trying too hard to live a life that was somebody else's idea of perfect."

"So do you have joint custody of Molly?" Draco asked.

"No. She just handed full custody over to me. I think I got the better end of the deal," he said, smiling as he thought of his youngest. "Ginny sends gifts and we see her sometimes at Christmas. But that's it. I've raised her on my own right up until Haley joined us. She can be a handful, but she's great with Molly and I love her just as much as I would were she my biological daughter."

The room was silent for a moment as Draco absorbed everything Harry had told him. "Is Haley the reason you moved to the muggle world, so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable?" he asked.

Harry looked at him in confusion. "What? Oh, no. Haley's a wizard, too. I moved here because nobody knows my name."

"Wait a minute," Draco said. Now it was his turn to be confused. "If Haley's a wizard, why isn't she in school? How old is she?"

Harry laughed. "She's fourteen. When I asked her if she had received her Hogwarts letter at eleven, she shrugged her shoulders and said, 'yeh, but why would I want to spend all day waving sticks around and writing papers?'"

"So she doesn't do magic at all?"

"Oh, she does plenty," Harry answered somewhat sardonically. "Apparently her powers kicked in when she was nine and since then she's been teaching herself wandless-ly. After I adopted her, we tried giving her a wand, but it actually just got in the way."

"I didn't think that was even possible," Draco muttered, his eyebrows knitting together as he thought about how much control that would require.

"Mm. I'm pretty sure her powers surpass mine already. My theory is that it had a lot to do with how she grew up. Her life was pretty tough, and I think her wizarding side kicked in early as a survival trait. Then she had three years on her own figuring out how to make it work before I found her. Since then she pretty much just home-schools herself."

"The ministry allows that?"

"There's not much they can do. They can't track her because she doesn't use a wand. Once a month they send some clown over to test her skills in arithmancy, potions, and history. Honestly, at this point she knows more than they do. She flies through books like Hermione used to."

"Sounds like you've got quite the prodigy on your hands," Draco said, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. His mind wandered to what Haley had asked him earlier. "So... your last boyfriend left you five months ago and you've been a shut-in ever since?"

"Ah," Harry's cheeks grew pink and he glanced down at the floor in embarrassment. He should have known there was no escaping that topic. "I haven't been a shut-in. I'm just busy with my writing," he mumbled. "The deadline for my last chapter was a week ago and my editor's been going nuts because I've had writer's block."

"Uh-huh. So why'd he leave?" Draco asked, trying not to smirk.

"You're rather nosy, aren't you?" Harry sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his hair. "He left because he decided he couldn't handle dating a single dad."

"He was also a complete flake. You're better off without him," Haley said loudly, walking into the room. Harry scowled at her. "Is dinner ready?" she asked, completely ignoring him.

As if on cue, the timer on the stove went off, effectively putting their conversation on hold until further notice.

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"Wow," Haley said as she pushed her empty plate away. "That was really good."

"Mm-hm," Molly agreed, nodding her head decidedly.

"I told you I could cook," Draco said as he helped Harry clear the dishes. Eating with the Potter family had actually been unexpectedly fun.

"Thanks," Harry said. "That really was excellent. I'll have to treat you to dinner someday to repay you."

"It was nothing. I actually enjoyed myself." He glanced up at the kitchen clock and almost swore before remembering there was a four-year-old sitting in the middle of an ocean of crayons near his feet. At some point he had lost track of time and it was much later than he had thought.

"You got to run?" Harry asked.

"Yeh, sorry. I have an early meeting tomorrow morning and I need to prepare." He stepped into the living room and grabbed his jacket. He really did have a lot of work to do before he could climb into bed that night. "I'll see around, alright? Bye girls!" he called on his way out the door. And with that he was gone.

Harry stood there for a moment, staring at the door blankly. "Huh. I didn't even get his number," he murmured.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Haley said as she picked up a sleepy Molly and walked out of the kitchen to get ready for bed.

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Draco Malfoy climbed into the taxi and gave the driver his address. As he settled into his seat he heard something crinkle. Shoving his hands into his jacket pockets he found a piece of paper folded in half with something drawn in crayon on the front. For the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. He opened it up and inside in red crayon it said 'tHank yu' with more indecipherable pictures. Underneath that, in the precise handwriting of someone much older than Molly, it said 'Dad's cell' with a number below it.

Draco laughed to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Of Burnt Toast and Crayons**

**Chapter 2**

Thank you everyone who reviewed! Sorry this took soo long to update.

I don't own them. Sorry. I know we all wish I did. XP

Again, sorry this took so long. I added a couple sentences to chapter 1, nothing you'd notice unless you were holding the old and the new side by side. I think I've finally come up with a vague idea of where this is going. You know, aside from Harry and Draco hooking up. I've never written a character as a parent before, and I find myself having trouble combining adoring father with horny young male. Guess it's a well needed exercise in creating multi-faceted characters.

Same as before. It is slight AU. I pretty much ignore Deathly Hollows. Voldemort was defeated and they all moved on with their lives.

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Harry stared at the disaster that was his living room. All the furniture lay tossed around, the television was jammed into a corner on the floor with a large crack across the screen. The books that had been sitting on the single bookshelf were now just a whirlwind of papers and one of the down pillows that decorated his couch had exploded and white feathers and pages floated around like snow.

Haley stood in the center of it all trying to look sheepish. Her attempt was ruined by the fact that she couldn't seem to stop giggling. Molly was jumping in circles around her clapping her small hands and laughing.

"Do I even want to know?" he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "And where's Mr. Whittaker?" he asked, suddenly realizing the Ministry's Examiner was nowhere in sight. There was a shuffling noise and the short, fat man crawled out from behind the upside down couch.

Mr. Whittaker adjusted his glasses and brushed the feathers from his brown tweed jacket. "Well," he muttered. "That was unexpected."

"He made me use a wand," Haley giggled, holding up 16 inches of australian blackwood above her head like it was some kind of trophy.

"I just thought we should give it a try," he said defensively. "Terribly sorry about your apartment."

"I can fix it!" Haley yelled. She tossed the wand to Mr. Whittaker, who fumbled with it a moment before grabbing it firmly with both hands against his chest. Haley held her arms out to each side and started humming. The hair on Harry's arms stood on end as he felt the magic in the room building. Molly stopped moving and stared at her sister in silent anticipation. Mr. Whittaker looked like he wanted to hide back behind the couch.

Without warning Haley stopped humming and brought her hands together in front of her with a loud 'clap!' and the room snapped back to its previous, unexploded state.

"Yay!" Molly cheered, jumping up and down again.

"My my," Mr. Whittaker murmured. "Very impressive. You know," he said, turning to Harry. "You really should let us take her to the Ministry for a little while. With the proper facilities, we could really test how far her powers extend without compromising the well-being of this apartment building."

"Hell no," Haley stated.

"You heard her," Harry told the Examiner. "And don't swear," he scolded Haley.

"Hell no!" yelled Molly, clapping her hands.

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Draco was exhausted. It had been a busy past few months. Not long after the war, the Ministry had decided to construct a building complex in the muggle world. With the number of wizards being born to non-magic parents on the rise and with all the wizards in general who were quickly growing fond of the convenience of muggle living, it had become necessary to do something to ease the transition between the two worlds.

So they had come up with an idea. It was a sprawling complex of apartments centered around a large hotel that towered over the rest. The whole thing was supposed to serve as a sort of gateway between the two worlds. It was going to be a place where wizards and muggles could live and come together without having to worry about leaving their own worlds behind. The one in charge of overseeing its completion, as well as one of its largest financial backers, was none other than Draco Malfoy himself.

The young man was currently doing his best to stay awake through yet another meeting with the board members as they discussed which designer to hire for the high-class restaurant that was going to be attached to the hotel. The guy they had previously chosen had to back out due to some kind of diving accident while he was vacationing in Fiji.

Malfoy stared blankly at the sample sketches spread out in front of him provided by the top three candidates. It took him a moment to realize the room had gone quiet. He looked up to see everyone staring at him. Honestly, he wasn't sure what had just been asked, but he was tired of all this indecision. "Enough flip-flopping back and forth," he said standing up. He grabbed the sketches that seemed to fit best with the already-decided-apon hotel motif and tossed them into the center of the long table. "We'll go with this one," he said. No one dared argue with him as he pulled his coat on and made his way out the door. Hell, they were probably just as happy to be done with it.

Just before he stepped into the elevator that would take him down to his waiting car, he glanced out the window at the city below him. In the distance he could just make out the silhouette of the nearly completed Hyperion Hotel, the Ministry's shiny new beacon of financial and political hope standing proud against the drizzling late October rain. As long as things stayed on track, the hotel would be open in time for Christmas.

Right now, however, Draco felt he could use a distraction. After climbing into his car and telling his driver to head home, he pulled out his phone and dialed the new number he had saved in there two weeks earlier.

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Harry had just sent the final chapter off to his editor and was ready to relax in front of the television for the night when his phone rang. He dug his cell out from under the pile of papers next to him but didn't recognize the number.

"You should answer that!" Haley called from the living room just as he was about to hit the 'ignore' button. He frowned at the open doorway but answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Potter."

Harry smiled at the voice on the other end of the line. Honestly he didn't think he'd be hearing from Draco again and it surprised him how happy he was to be proven wrong.

"Malfoy. Hi. What can I do for you?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

There was a brief pause before the answer came. "Actually, I was wondering if I could cash in on that dinner you owe me."

"Tonight?" Harry could feel his grin grow even wider. This was an unexpected development, but there was no way in hell he was going to let it pass him by... no matter how tired he was. He glanced at the clock hanging over his desk. It was only just after five. "I'd love to, hold on moment. I have to see if i can get a babysitter." He stood up and walked out into the living room to find Molly shoving her coloring books into her backpack while Haley tied her shoes for her.

"I called Mrs. Harper next door," Haley explained. "She said it'd be fine if we stayed over for the night. She's watching her grandson for the weekend and would enjoy the extra company."

"We're gonna make cookies!" Molly cheered. Mrs. Harper lived two doors down and was the epitome of the perfect grandmother. She often watched the girls when he had somewhere else to be.

Harry arched an eyebrow at the teen. Sometimes it worried him how she always seemed one step ahead of everything. He brought the phone back up to his ear. "Alright. Give me at least an hour to get ready," he said glancing down at his t-shirt and boxers.

"I still have a couple things to take care of myself. I'll pick you up at seven." And with that the line went dead.

"Bye daddy!" Molly waved from the building hallway as the door closed, leaving him alone in his living room. He knew he was grinning like an idiot. He couldn't help it. Never in a million years would he have thought he'd have any chance at getting into Draco Malfoy's pants. Now that the opportunity, however tiny, fluttered around the edges of the realm of 'possible', it was all he could do to keep his mind on track . He dare not call it a date. At least, not yet. But hopefully some subtle flirting and a few drinks would bring him the kind of night he hadn't had in what seemed like ages.

The father in him frowned at his overactive imagination, shaking a finger at how eager he was to be rid of his daughters for the night to spend time with a man he almost killed back in school. The guy in him was too busy thinking about Malfoy's ass to think about much else. Besides, he was confident that he was raising two brilliant girls and he deserved this.

With that final thought, he turned and headed for the shower.

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The night started off quite promising. After picking him up, they went to a small french restaurant not far from the apartment. Now they sat across from each other in a small booth at the back of the room and Harry was having a hard time keeping the word 'date' from his mind as he studied the man across from him while they talked.

To say the years since Hogwarts had been kind to the blonde would be an understatement. Draco was tall and lean, all elegant lines and graceful movements. Harry had allowed himself a few improper fantasies back in school and they kept popping up at the back of his now slightly more adult mind. He forced himself to focus on their conversation.

"So that's why you're living in the city right now."

"Indeed. It's much easier to keep and eye on things when I don't have to constantly travel back and forth between the two worlds," Draco responded as he pushed his now empty plate away from himself.

"You know, it's about time the ministry did something like this. The wizarding world is hardly a secret from the muggles anymore, and I never could understand why wizards insisted on ignoring science. Don't know why they choose to live without certain modern conveniences," he griped, remembering hours of playing chess with Ron when all he wanted was a video game.

Draco laughed. "I know what you mean. I've been living in the muggle world for just over a year now, and I honestly don't think I could give up my television. Or my phone. I think a lot of people are starting to feel the same way."

"So when is the project supposed to be complete?"

"The hotel is scheduled to open at the beginning of December. Our only possible hang-up would be the restaurant, which we had to hire a new guy for the interior design. As long as he can stay on task, though, we should be fine. The apartments probably won't be complete for almost a year after that, but we will be opening them up as they are completed, the first building hopefully being done by February."

"I'll have to come see it when it's done."

Draco smiled. "Why don't you accompany me to the Grand Opening. There's a lot of people who would be more than happy to see you there."

"No, I don't think so. Those stuffy parties really aren't my thing," Harry replied.

"Why not?" Draco pushed. "I mean, You're Harry-bloody-Potter. This could be like your re-emergence into the wizarding world. People want to know what happened to you," he said, leaning forward in excitement.

Harry frowned. "See, that's exactly why I left in the first place. I don't want to be famous."

Draco growled in annoyance. "But you could do so much with that fame! People idolize you, they'd listen to what you have to say! Why would you throw that away?"

"Throw what away?" Harry snapped back at him. "Having reporters following me around, making up stories about me? Being wary of every person who wants to get close to me, wondering if they're honest or simply in it because I'm famous? Everything I did would be constantly under scrutiny by the entire world! Forget it!" he cried, throwing his hands in the air.

"Well, I hardly think you should waste your life hiding from your past!" Draco snarled. A small voice at the back of his mind kept telling him to shut up, but he ignored it. The few glasses of wine he had were now fueling on this pointless argument.

"Is that what I'm doing?" he asked, standing up. "Wasting my life?" And with that he grabbed his coat and stormed out of the restaurant.

Draco was left sitting by himself at the table, feeling like an asshole when the waiter dropped off the check. The last thing he had wanted to do tonight was get in a fight with Potter. Guess some habits were hard to break.


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